I'm a retired nurse and just had a ¡ò200-a-month rent °ú¤¾å¤²¡Ê¤ë¡Ë, but no rise in ½»Âð Íø±×: STEVE WEBB replies
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Help needed »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶âing Ë¡°Æs: I'm a retired nurse and just had a big rent °ú¤¾å¤²¡Ê¤ë¡Ë I can't afford
I am a retired ÅÐÏ¿¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ëd nurse. I ¸½ºß¡¿°ìÈÌ¤Ë receive ¡ò1,341.78 a month from two work ǯ¶âs and my ÌÀ¸À¤¹¤ë¡¿¸øɽ¤¹¤ë ǯ¶â.
I am renting ¸Ä¿Í¤È¤·¤Æ and my rent has been Áý²Ã¤¹¤ëd from ¡ò500 to ¡ò695 because my landlady says her mortgage Ψ has gone up.
After my Ë¡°Æs have been taken out of my account I am left with just over ¡ò100 a week. I have ŬÍѤ¹¤ëd for an Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë in my ¸½ºß¤Î ½»Âð Íø±× (¡ò45 a week) but have been advised that I am receiving the ºÇÂç¸Â ÎÌ I can get.
Is there any way of receiving any other monies to »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â my living costs. I ±¿Æ° to keep myself ÆÈΩ¤·¤¿¡¦Ìµ½ê° and °Ý»ýÈñs/ÀÐÌý of course is a ½µ´©»ï µî¤Ã¤Æ¤¤¤¯¡¿¼Ò¸òŪ¤Ê.
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Steve Webb replies: The Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë you have ľÌ̤¹¤ëd in your ·îËè¤Î rent is ÌÀ³Î¤Ë very ÁêÅö¤Ê and I can understand why this has put a squeeze on your ºâÀ¯¡¿¶âÍ»s.
I will try to explain why your ½»Âð Íø±× did not ¤¹¤°¤Ë Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë when your rent went up. But I will also ³ô what I hope is a Èù¸÷ of good news based on a little-noticed ¹ð¼¨ in the ºÇ¶á¤Î Autumn À¼ÌÀ.
As a »äŪ¤Ê renter, your ½»Âð Íø±× is not based on your actual rent. Instead it is based on something called your ¡ÆÃϸµ¤Î ½»Âð allowance¡Ç.
In 2012/13, the LHA was »Ï¤á¤ë¡¤·è¤á¤ë to match or ±Û¤¨¤ë the rent level of the cheapest 30 per cent of rented ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»ºs in your area.
Since then, LHA Ψs have been squeezed, then re-»Ï¤á¤ë¡¤·è¤á¤ë at the 30 per cent threshold during the pandemic before ¸ºß frozen since then.
The political justification given for ²Ý¤¹ing the 30 per cent threshold is that people on Íø±× should not be able to choose the nicest ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»ºs in an area and get their rent covered in ½½Ê¬¤Ê by the taxpayer.
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Instead, the taxpayer will only »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â up to the rent on a Èæ³Ó¤·¤Æ modest ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º, ´Ø¤ï¤ê¤Ê¤¯ your actual rent.
Because LHA Ψs are only changed once a year (if at all), and because it is the LHA Ψ which ·èÄꤹ¤ës how much Íø±× you can get, this is why your ½»Âð Íø±× did not Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë as soon as your rent went up.
There is another important º·É¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¦ÅÀ in which the LHA Ψ may not È¿±Ç¤¹¤ë your actual rent. The LHA Ψ to wh ich you are ¤¹¤ë¸¢Íø¤òÍ¿¤¨¤ëd is based on the size of ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º that you are ¤ß¤Ê¤¹d to ¡Æneed¡Ç rather than the size of ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º that you have chosen to live in.
For example, although I don¡Çt know for sure, from your question I¡Çm guessing that you may live alone.
If so, you would typically only be ¤¹¤ë¸¢Íø¤òÍ¿¤¨¤ëd to the LHA Ψ for a one-bedroom ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º, even if you are ¸½¼Â¤Ë living in something larger.
This »ÙÇÛ¤¹¤ë can lead to a ½ÅÍ×¤Ê ÉÔ¡ʹâ¡Ë between the rent that you are »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶âing and the ÎÌ covered by Íø±× in some »öÎã¡¿´µ¼Ôs.
Where people are really struggling and perhaps have some particular or exceptional need, they can ŬÍѤ¹¤ë to their Ãϸµ¤Î Åö¶É for what are called ¡Ædiscretionary ½»Âð »Ùʧ¤¤¡Ê³Û¡Ës¡Ç.
Although these are designed to be an exceptional and °ì»þŪ¤Ê ºÇ¹â¤Î¡¤¤ò±Û¤¹-up to ½»Âð Íø±× they can be useful and you could consider ŬÍѤ¹¤ëing if the ºÇ¿·¤Î rent Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë has ¸¶°ø¡Ê¤È¤Ê¤ë¡Ëd you particular hardship.
However, the Èù¸÷ of good news is that the À¯ÉÜ has finally ¼õÂ÷¤¹¤ëd that the long-¾Î¤¹¤ë¡¤¸Æ¤Ö¡¿´ü´Ö¡¿ÍѸì Åà·ë¤¹¤ë on LHA Ψs has gone on long enough, ÆÃ¤Ë given the continued rise in rent levels.
It was ȯɽ¤¹¤ëd in the Autumn À¼ÌÀ in November last year that LHA Ψs will be re-»Ï¤á¤ë¡¤·è¤á¤ë so that they once again cover the Äì¡Ê¤ËÆϤ¯¡Ë 30 per cent of rent levels in each Ãϸµ¤Î area.
The À¯ÉÜ says that this ¼êÃÊ will Íø±× around 1.6million À¤ÂÓs, with an ÉáÄ̤Ρ¿Ê¿¶Ñ¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë ¿¤Ó¡Ê¤ë¡Ë of ¡ ò785 per year from April 2024.
The exact ¾×·â on you will depend on what has been happening to rent levels in your Ãϸµ¤Î area since the Åà·ë¤¹¤ë on LHA Ψs began and on the size of the ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º you are ¤ß¤Ê¤¹d to need.
In »öÎã¡¿´µ¼Ô it is of Íø±×¡¿¶½Ì£ you can use this À¯ÉÜ website to find out the LHA Ψ for the ¸½ºß¤Î year (2023/24): Search for Ãϸµ¤Î ½»Âð Allowance Ψs by postcode or Ãϸµ¤Î Åö¶É.
If you enter your postcode this will tell you what ¡ÆÉý¤Î¹¤¤ ÄÂÂߤ·¤Î market area¡Ç you come under and then you can find out the ¸½ºß¤Î ºÇÂç¸Â LHA for a ½êÍʪ¡¿»ñ»º¡¿ºâ»º with the number of bedrooms you are ¤ß¤Ê¤¹d to need.
Once you know which area you come under, you can then look at the ¿äÄꤹ¤ë¡¿Í½ÁÛ¤¹¤ëd Ψs of LHA for 2024/25 here: Indicative Ãϸµ¤Î ½»Âð Allowance Ψs for 2024 to 2025.
Hopefully you should see a ½ÅÍ×¤Ê Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë.
Remember however that the LHA ¿Íʪ¡¿»Ñ¡¿¿ô»ú is ´Êñ¤Ë the starting point for the ·×»»¡¿¸«ÀѤê of your Íø±×.
As you know, you ¸½ºß¡¿°ìÈÌ¤Ë receive only ÉôʬŪ¤Ê¡¿ÉÔÊ¿Åù¤Ê help because your income is above ǯ¶â credit levels and a Îà»÷¤Î ¼¡Âè¤Ë¸º¾¯¤¹¤ëing of help will ŬÍѤ¹¤ë next year, albeit based on a higher LHA ¿Íʪ¡¿»Ñ¡¿¿ô»ú.
I hope that this change in LHA Ψs, coupled with the ǯ¼¡¤Î Áý²Ã¤¹¤ë to ÌÀ¸À¤¹¤ë¡¿¸øɽ¤¹¤ë ǯ¶âs and your »äŪ¤Ê ǯ¶âs, will mean that your ºâÀ¯¾å¤Î ¾õ¶·¡¿¾ðÀª ´ËϤ¹¤ës ¤ï¤º¤«¤Ë from April onwards.